The price of loyalty
by Amaranthe Athenais
Summary: Set in S2E13. This is a long oneshot. Robin Hood, the outlaws, Sheriff Vaisey, Guy of Gisborne, and Marian travel to the Holy Land. The trip to Acre ends in the most unexpected way. The price of utter, unconditional loyalty might be very high. Loyalty has a reverse side. The love triangle of Robin, Marian, and Guy is untangled differently. This is a slightly edited version.


_This is a long oneshot about Robin Hood, Marian, Guy, the Sheriff, King Richard, and the outlaws. _

_In this alternative universe, the trip to Acre ends in the most unexpected way. The price of utter and unconditional loyalty might be very high. Loyalty has a reverse side. The love triangle of Robin, Marian, and Guy is untangled differently._

_Undoubtedly and unfortunately, I don't own any characters and the show. In addition, several characters are introduced by myself._

_Hope you will enjoy the story._

_Any reviews are welcome, both the good and the bad. Constructive criticism is always welcome._

* * *

**The price of loyalty**

King Richard the Lionheart came to the meeting place for the peace negotiations on time. He was alone and waited for Saladin. He saw a Saracen on an agile, black Arabic stallion riding towards him. The man was well-dressed, wearing expensive black clothing in the Turkish fashion, and was armed with a fine sword in a gold-chased scabbard, but he didn't look like Saladin. The first thing that attracted Richard's attention was the newcomer's age: he was too young to be the great military commander of the Turks whom the King of England battled with for so many years.

Richard felt that there was something strange with the man. He swept his eyes over the dunes and then heard quiet snickering of several horses somewhere very close to him. His heart sank into his throat as he realized what it might have meant: there was someone else hiding and watching him from a distance. The realization dawned upon him: he had been deceived by the fake Saladin's envoy and willingly walked into a trap. Robin was right that the new regicide attempt on his life had been planned.

Indeed, Richard was not alone there. Sheriff Vaisey of Nottingham and Sir Guy of Gisborne were hiding behind the sand dune, their chests pressed to the burning soil. Sir James of Kent, who was the treacherous Crusader from the King's camp and the Head of the King's Private Guard, was with them; he was bought by the Black knights several years ago and spied on the King in the Holy Land. They wore smug expression, expecting to see the historical event – the murder of King Richard the Lionheart by the assassin.

The Saracen stopped and dismounted. He didn't bow to the King and grinned insolently, his dark eyes sparkling with danger. "I am not really Saladin," he said in English.

"I have already guessed that," Richard responded in highly accented English.

King Richard swiftly unsheathed his sword. The Saracen also drew his sword and lunged at the King. Richard blocked the blow and plunged his sword at the assassin's head. The Saracen merely twisted his body to avoid the blade, and Richard again lunged quickly. The Lionheart moved easily, casually, out of his enemy's blade, parrying and lunging.

The voice in the back of his head said to him that it could have been a well-planned plan with many assassins hiding in the dunes and watching the spectacle, and that worried him very much. He thought that his only chance to stay alive was to kill his current opponent and then immediately escape the wretched place.

Unexpectedly, a hubbub of familiar voices resonated in the hot air. Richard heard the voices and was confident that many Englishmen in high spirits were approaching. Although he was concentrated on the fight, from the corner of his eye the King noticed many Crusaders in white Templar tunics hastily dismounting and running towards him. The King's guards arrived to save their King.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" The voice cracked from behind the King, like the sound of shattering rock. It was Robert de Beaumont, the Earl of Leicester and the Captain of the Second Guard of the King's own forces.

"We arrived on time," another Crusader said breathlessly.

"Protect the King! Surround the area! There is someone hiding here! Capture the assassins!" the Earl of Leicester's commanding voice boomed in the hot air.

Leicester dismounted and strode directly towards the King. Richard had finished the assassin by plunging his broadsword into the Saracen's chest, and Leicester smiled, quickening his footsteps. He paused and looked back to where the King's men had spread themselves in two lines across the dunes, holding their drawn swords point up as they surrounded the area.

Leicester bowed deeply to the King. "I beg my pardon, my liege. I disregarded your orders."

King Richard felt a smile forming on his lips. "Robert, I have to thank you for it."

"I hope we will capture the conspirators here."

Richard felt his heart thundering in his chest at the memory of Robin whom he had unjustly condemned to the cruel death in the desert. "Oh my God! Robin! Robin!"

"Sire, Carter and Roger went to release Robin and his friends."

The King smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Robert." He wasn't angry with the Earl of Leicester; he was grateful as Leicester's disobedience saved his life.

Leicester emitted a heavy sigh. "I just hope that it is not too late."

Richard still remembered the gloomy faces of Robin's old comrades who served under his command in the Private Guard for almost five years. They gave Richard grim glances, their eyes full of amusement and disbelief that the King had ordered to assemble the men and execute Robin and the outlaws. They thought that it had resembled a shocking travesty of justice because there had been no trial and no reasonable evidence of Robin's supposed treason. The King neglected to explain why he decided to execute his most beloved warrior who had saved his life so many times; he simply said that Robin and the others were traitors. But it was the King's order and everyone had to obey.

With great reluctance and silent apology in their eyes, the King's men did as Richard wanted. Only Roger and Carter publicly vouched for Robin's honesty. Carter had no doubt that Robin's words were truthful because he himself had delivered to the King Robin's message about the Black Knights' treacherous plots to overthrow and murder Richard. Carter and Roger disapproved of the King's decision to execute Robin, but their temperamental liege didn't listen to them.

The others didn't defend Robin because the King himself declared that Robin and his friends had been traitors to the crown and ordered to execute them. The soldiers feared the explosion of the lion's fierce Angevin temper; they also were afraid of the persecutions from Sir James of Kent, the Head of the Private Guard, an unknown traitor to the crown under the mask of a loyal servant.

As the outlaws were tied up to the wooden poles in the desert and the King said his farewell words to Robin, many soldiers cast their eyes down, either in shame or in grief that their former Captain's fate was to die as a high traitor of England and King Richard. As the Crusaders rode away, some of them, including Carter and Roger, shook their heads in shock.

The Earl of Leicester was out of the camp when Robin arrived to warn King Richard about the imminent peril. Robin's old friend and the King's closest confident, Leicester was another King's most beloved knight. Robin, Robert and a few others were bold to disregard the King's orders and stand for their opinion, challenging the lion and from time to time questioning the fairness of their liege's decisions and actions. If Richard hadn't loved them so much, they could have been easily dispatched from the King's retinue for insubordination a long time ago.

By the time the Earl of Leicester arrived back at the camp from Acre, the King had already been gone for the meeting with Saladin in the desert. As he had learnt what had happened to Robin and that the King had gone most likely right into a trap, he immediately assembled the men and announced that he needed thirty men to follow him and find the King, so that they could guarantee Richard's safety.

Leicester also learnt that Carter and Roger intended to go against the King's orders and release Robin and the gang. Even though they were held by Richard in high favor, these two bold Crusaders still feared the King's wrath, but they couldn't let Robin and other innocent people die in the desert. Soon Leicester was gone to the place where the King was supposed to conduct one-to-one peace negotiations with Saladin, whereas Carter and Roger went to save Robin.

§§§

Robin Hood, Marian, and the gang were tied up to the poles in the desert. The sun was high in a cloudless sky; its strength was ferocious, baking the landscape so that the rocks and the sand itself shimmered and wavered, their surfaces warped by the heat that rose up in palpable waves.

For indefinite time, the outlaws were still, scarcely breathing and still hoping for a miracle to survive. But more and more time was passing, and there was no sign that someone would come and save them. With every heartbeat, it was becoming more difficult to breathe. Death was enveloping them; it was very close. No one could believe that they would die here and soon, at the order of King Richard, whom they had come to save from the Sheriff and Gisborne and who had unjustly sentenced them to death.

Marian ran her eyes at the row of outlaws, the pitiful picture of the people doomed to die for nothing and no one. "Well, say the words then, handsome," she said determinedly.

Robin frowned. "What words?"

Marian smiled. "I, Robin, take you, Marian..."

Robin felt every muscle of his body tightening as the words hit him with the impact of the strongest volcanic eruption; his heart almost collapsed, blood froze in his veins. He didn't want to think that it was the tragic end of them, the end of his dream to wait for the King's return, marry Marian in the Locksley Church and then live with his wife in Locksley, the end of his dream to achieve peace in England and save the people from Prince John. Yet, it looked like they were going to die and that nothing could have saved them.

"Now?" Robin asked in half a whisper.

"Now is a good time, I think," Marian replied, smiling at the gang in front of her. "We are in the company of the best witnesses England has to offer."

Much gave a slight nod, and Marian chuckled slightly.

Robin drew a deep, agonizing breath. She was absolutely right that it was time to exchange their marriage vows before their death. "I, Robin, take you, Marian, to be my lawful wedded wife. To have and to hold... for better or for worse... for richer... or for poorer..."

"In sickness..." Marian prompted Robin to continue.

Robin sighed heavily, his heart hammering so hard that it was nearly bursting out of his basque. "In sickness or in health, to love and to cherish... till death do us part."

Marian smiled. "I, Marian, take you, Robin of Locksley, master of the bow, champion of the poor and lord of my heart, to be my lawful wedded husband. I promise to love and cherish you, for better or for worse, from this day forward... as long as we both shall live."

Listening to the wedding vows, Much could no longer suppress his sorrow and started sobbing. Robin was biting his bottom lip, trying not to cry himself. Marian didn't cry and tried to look back at Robin, happy that God gave them at least a small chance to become a husband and a wife before death. If they couldn't be happy on the Earth, they would be happy in Heaven, she believed.

"Much... don't cry," Marian appeased, looking at Much.

Much sullenly shook his head. "I am not crying," he whispered barely audibly.

She sighed. Her head hurt and the back of her throat burned with the effort of suppressing tears. "Oh, we will be alright. We will be in Heaven, at peace soon." She made a swift intake of air, struggling with herself to keep herself calm. "It is alright. There is nothing wrong."

Marian tried to master her courage, but in reality her bravado was a mask of her unwillingness to die and depression. She didn't want to die in the desert and wished to defeat the Sheriff, help the people of Nottingham, have a long life with Robin, and bear Robin's children. Yet, if it was their fate to die today and in the Holy Land, she was ready to accept that.

Marian inclined her head stiffly, her heart pounding harder and harder. Her mind was tired, but the clear thoughts still nested in the back of her head. _I am with you, Robin, in the final moments of my life. I love you with all my heart, and we are dying together, and it is better than dying alone, separately from you, my love, she whispered to herself. I am not a coward. Nothing will destroy me. I am dying proud and happy. I am dying for England and for you, my Robin, she thought._

"Not being funny, but someone seems to be hurrying here," Allan stated, gazing into a distance.

Somewhere close to the outlaws a horse nickered and was answered by another. They turned their heads and looked into the horizon, but there was nobody to be seen. The hissing clash of metal upon metal came from there as the fierce fight began. Then someone screamed in agony and pain, and the outlaws heard several people talking in English in loud voices.

Then everything turned still, very still, and the invisible intruders moved away. Only the sounds of their receding footsteps breached the silence, announcing the end of the fight and the departure of the winners. The dwindling sounds of the shouted farewells in mocking tones faded away.

The outlaws cast a scrupulous, hopeful glance at Robin, as though he could have answered what had happened. Robin only laughed humorously and started chewing his lips, sighing in frustration and uncertainty. Like the others, he hoped that Carter or someone of his other comrades would disobey the King and return to release them, but it seemed that the hope for salvation had been lost.

"I don't know who was on his way here. I am not sure that someone would arrive," Robin said flatly, not encouraging his friends to have false hopes that could possibly never come true.

Much stared at Robin, his eyes pleading his master to give him some hope. "Maybe someone wanted to come here and save us."

Unable to hold Much's gaze, Robin turned away, shuddering in helplessness, anger, and physical exhaustion. "If Carter or other guards wanted to save us, they would have already come."

"Yeah, we are gonna to die here and soon?" Allan inquired, his voice nearly desperate.

Robin exhaled a bitter sigh. "I think so," he replied hesitantly.

"Maybe the King will decide to release us in the end," Little John said.

Will scoffed. "By the time he realizes that he was deceived we will be dead."

"The King may be dead – already or very soon, killed by the Sheriff and Gisborne," Djaq uttered, a touch of disdain towards the King creeping into her voice.

"Yeah, then we will see the King in Heaven. He will have to apologize," Allan tried to joke.

The outlaws smiled at the last attempt of the former traitor to joke.

"At least we had time to exchange wedding vows," Marian said.

"I am sorry, my love," Robin muttered, swallowing a lump in his throat. "I am so sorry. We didn't have much time to be happy together, my darling."

Marian smiled wistfully. "You shouldn't be sorry, handsome. We were fighters, and I am proud of us. We have forever in Heaven."

The outlaws didn't know that the band of the Sheriff's Saracen assassins accidently stumbled into Carter and Roger in the desert on their way to Vaisey. The violent battle unfolded, and, significantly outnumbered, the Crusaders were not victorious. Carter and Roger were brutally murdered by the Saracens on their way to save the outlaws.

Carter lay on the sand, his torso pierced by a crossbow bolt, his chain-mail shirt clotted with gore and his face pallid beneath his sun-bronzed skin. The tunic of his chain mail was insufficient to protect him from the lethal force of the steel bolt that had driven the metal mesh into his body. One of Carter's arms was broken, his head bleeding against a small stone. Another Crusader, Roger, lay on his back, his throat slashed, his arms crossed on his broad chest, his bow and a quiver of arrows laid beside him, his white tunic blackened with blood.

§§§

"Damn King Richard! Damn these Crusaders! This is bad! This is very bad! How did they come here? The King was supposed to be alone!" Sheriff Vaisey's shrilling voice coursed the air. He swore numerous oaths. "Do something, you oafs! We have the King to kill!"

"It should be Hood's doing!" Gisborne hissed through the clenched teeth.

James smirked. "I doubt that Locksley took the men from the King's camp. It should be Leicester's idea who again disobeyed his precious King." A wide smile splashed across his face. "I am sure that Locksley must be dead by now."

Gisborne drew a wheezing breath and slammed his fist into the sand. "I want Hood dead!" He stared at James. "But how do you know that Hood is already dead?"

Guy wholeheartedly hated and loathed Robin Hood. He wanted Hood utterly, brutally, and mercilessly destroyed. But Hood had cheated death many times in the past, and Guy began to believe that the infamous outlaw was invincible and insufferable. Guy wanted Hood to die in the desert instead of becoming the hero of the day and saving the King's life again.

"Do you really think that I wish Locksley to survive and save King Richard? Of course, no! I hated this arrogant ass all the time when he was the Head of the Private Guard. His death makes me happy," James elaborated, sneering at the imaginary picture of the tied-up, suffering Robin under the sun which emerged in his mind. His voice altered from one word to the next, dropping its tone of raillery and then becoming serious. "I sent several Saracens to kill everyone who may try to release Locksley and his companions from the forest."

The Sheriff laughed. "Blah-di-blah-di-blah! This is so sweet, so charming! It sounds too good to be true! I am happy! I am so happy! You made me happy, Sir James!"

Gisborne nodded, his eyes darkening with emotion. "Then Hood must be dead."

"Enough babbling, Gisborne! Enough!" Sheriff Vaisey gave his sergeant a hard shuffle. "Gisborne and James, you are imbeciles! Do something to save our day. We are losing." He looked at James and then at several Saracen assassins. "We should attack them right now."

James swept his eyes over the dunes and shook his head. "I think that it is time to flee," he said, scrambling to his feet from the sand and signaling two Saracen assassins to follow him. "Get up and save your lives while you have time. There are many Crusaders here."

Vaisey and Gisborne exchanged worried glances, silently agreeing that they had to escape.

"We will be defeated," Gisborne said, looking around and assessing the situation.

"Our forces are unequal." Vaisey frowned. "We should escape now."

The Sheriff and Gisborne jumped to their feet and rushed to the horses, followed by James and two assassins. They momentarily mounted on and spurred their horses into the full gallop.

The Sheriff and his accomplices were quickly discovered by the Crusaders who had already put the place on the lockdown; they had already been surrounded by the King's men. Understanding that the fight with the King's guards was an unequal battle doomed to be lost, Vaisey and James commanded to break through the thick line of the Crusaders, galloping away to save their lives; it was a desperate thing to do, but it was their only chance.

King Richard ordered the archers to concentrate on killing the horses and then pick off the dismounted riders. It was when Vaisey and Gisborne noticed the line of the ten archers, each of them ready to shoot an arrow. At the King's command, the archers fired massed volleys of arrows that fell on their targets like sheets of windblown rain.

Vaisey looked back and saw Gisborne's horse topple, its chest and flanks bristling with arrows. The Sheriff merely glimpsed as Gisborne pitched forward behind the animal's rearing bulk and fell on the sand. James slipped from his horse and dropped to his knees on the sand. The several Saracen assassins fought to control their terrified mounts, and then they finally also tumbled to the ground as the archers killed the animals.

The King barked in Norman-French to encircle the heavily armored Saracens and the Black Knights. King Richard instructed to capture the assassins alive or kill in a fight in case of their violent resistance. Knowing that there would be no mercy for them if they had been seized and arrested by the King's men, Gisborne and James gave the inhuman war cries and began fighting like the possessed men, lunging and parrying and blocking.

In an instance, the blades crossed. The savage fight began, but not big enough to be called a battle because it sprang up suddenly and because the conspirators were greatly outnumbered. It looked more like a spontaneous clash rather than a strategic confrontation, which was commanded brilliantly by King Richard himself.

Vaisey continued riding away under the storm of whizzing arrows, trying to break through the fire. Next instance Vaisey's horse bolted as it was struck by an arrow, and the Sheriff's small body fell on the ground. His mind fixed on the idea that if it had been his fate to be captured by the King's men, his only wish would be to see Robin Hood dead. It was Vaisey's last thought because next moment he was hit by the full force of the bolt-driven blade and knocked senseless. The armor he wore was slightly driven into the flesh of his chest, leaving a pattern of bruising and some scrapes.

An exceptionally skillful swordsman, Guy managed to finish off four Crusaders and to seriously wound at least two more. He was about to swing his blade in a fatal blow on another Englishman when King Richard himself suddenly lunged at him and skewed him across his belly while another guard stabbed him from the back. Sharp pain slashed through his body, and Guy cried out in pain and agony, clutching his wound on his lower stomach. He staggered backwards and his large frame dropped to his knees.

Lying on the back, Guy raised his eyes and looked at the blue and cloudless sky. He put his hand on his forehead, shading his eyes against the glare of the sun and inhaled sharply, wincing in pain that slashed through his body. In the final moments of his life, he thought only about Marian, the love of his life. He wondered what would happen to her after his death and Vaisey's capture and what she would do alone in Acre. He didn't know that the Sheriff had taken Marian to the desert to die together with the outlaws.

_I am dying, but at least Marian is alive and Hood is dead. I am going to hell for all the heinous crimes I committed in my life. I will never meet Marian in Heaven because I am doomed to burn in the flames of the hellfire. I should have been a better man whom only Marian saw in me. I was misguided and loyal to a wrong man. I hope Vaisey will also die. I want the Sheriff dead, for I hate him so much, and I should have killed him when Marian promised to marry me. God forgive me for my misspent life, Guy's last thoughts were_. Guy smiled and closed his eyes forever. His breathing stopped. He was dead.

Ironically, Guy was killed by the Crusaders and the King of England, whom he despised and felt nothing wrong to kill during the Saracen raid when he had wounded Robin but had been stopped by him. Guy's death was the price he paid for his loyalty to Sheriff Vaisey and Prince John.

One of the King's guards rushed to Guy and thrust his sword into his chest, so that he could be sure that Guy was dead and would never rise again. Then, with a satisfied and smug expression on his face, the man walked away to the Earl of Leicester.

In a matter of minutes, the assassins lost the battle. Unconscious and bruised, Sheriff Vaisey was shackled and gagged. Sir James of Kent was beheaded by the Earl of Leicester and stabbed in his stomach by one of the Crusaders. The Saracens assassins were killed on the spot in a fight.

King Richard looked at the carnage surrounding them; he could see nothing that struck him as being anomalous. He nodded, signaling that the battled was over. He told his men to deliver unconscious Vaisey to the camp and throw him into the prison, chain him about his neck to the wall of his cell, and guard him with utmost scrupulosity to prevent him from escaping. Another command was to take the bodies to the camp for further burial.

"What are we doing now, milord?" the Earl of Leicester asked the King.

"We are going to Robin and his friends. Carter and Roger should have already released them," Richard declared, nodding towards the horses. "Let's hurry up."

§§§

The outlaws were melting under the blazing sun. Will, Allan, and Little John had already fallen unconscious. Much surrendered to the darkness of abysmal despair and stared sobbing, loudly, violently, and uncontrollably, but no one reproached him for the lack of self-control and emotions.

Djaq didn't pass out yet and was merely silent, her eyes wrinkled to slits against the severity of the sun as she tried to comprehend what was happening to them and whose fault it was. She wholeheartedly hated the foolish King of England; her hatred was vehement and all-consuming.

Marian and Robin didn't speak. They were trying to concentrate and think, but the heat had already taken its toll on them. Every minute seemed to be the longest in their entire lives as they waited for the end, their vision blurred, their heads spinning, their bodies unable to move, their mouths too dry to make a sound. Their tortured limbs still objected to the unnatural way they were tied to the poles, dementing pain in their arms showing no intention of receding.

Tied to the same pole from the different sides, Marian and Robin were unable not only to touch each other in their last moments, but also to give each other a farewell smile. Although at first they hadn't intended to simply give up on themselves and stop hoping to survive, they resigned to their fate in the end; death was very close and nothing could change that.

Robin struggled with the darkness that was slowly enveloping him. He shut his eyes tightly and sighed heavily, then opened them, looking into a distance and searching for a little sign that they could be saved. Vague hopes. They were alone in the desert.

The deadly, murderous silence descended upon the dying outlaws. Even Much stopped sobbing.

Absolute stillness awoke Robin from the slumber. He glanced around again – there was nothing seen except for the endless yellow-tinted sand, the sun, and the blue sky above them. Robin cursed, wishing to wake up and learn that he had been swept by the tumult of the unreal, awful dreams that lingered and haunted him, shapeless and full of dread.

Robin was slipping into and out of consciousness. His eyes were heavy and he squeezed them shut, forcing himself to open them again, still fighting with death. His eyelids twitched slightly, but there was so much pressure against them, preventing them from opening. He drew in a quick breath and instinctively tried to move his hands, wishing to claw at his face with both hands and forgetting that his left arm was tightly bound. A mere movement resulted in severe pain, and all at once he realized with sudden certainty that his nightmares had been real.

They were dying in the desert. It was reality. It was no dream.

Robin admired and loved King Richard the Lionheart since his early youth. He willingly left his life in England behind and followed his King to the Holy Land, doing duty to his country and to his liege, but abandoning his only true love and breaking her young, tender heart.

Finding a remarkable personality in Robin, King Richard became his mentor and friend on the Crusade, and Robin quickly took a special place in the lion's heart. The King loved Robin so much that Robin was said to have become the King's grand favorite. Richard bestowed upon Lord Locksley many medals for his numerous victories on the battlefield and promoted the young man to the Captain of the Private Guard, making Robin one of his chief generals.

The King believed in his young protégé more than Robin had ever believed in himself, which awoke Robin's undying devotion to the Lionheart. Robin thought that the King's special attitude had made him a true man and shaped many features of his characters, like leadership and courage, which eventually made him the war hero in the Holy Land and the people's hero in England.

Nevertheless, everything changed dramatically. King Richard no longer considered Robin his true friend and publicly accused him of committing high treason, saying that Robin had been bought by the Black Knights. He condemned them all to a lingering death from the heat and the thirst, a shameful death of traitors, without any credible evidence.

The only consolation was that the King had spared Robin and the outlaws the brutal execution of being hanged, drawn, and quartered. Robin barely suppressed his laugher as Richard said that he would be unable to take his life because Robin had saved the King's life many times before, during the war. It sounded weird, absurd, and painful. Whatever kind of execution the King prepared for Robin and the others, they were still dying as traitors, even if they were innocent, unjustly condemned men.

_King Richard sentenced me, all of us, to death, and this is my reward for everything I did for him. How could Richard do that? How could he be so unfair to me and my friends? Was I so blind in my loyalty to him? I saved him so many times, but he has forgotten that. This is the price I am paying for my loyalty to him, but this price is too high, for my innocent friends are dying because of the King's mistake,_ Robin concluded bitterly. He still couldn't believe that his King could have taken the word of the fake Turkish emissary, whom Richard had never seen before, over Robin's word. Richard had trusted Robin with his life and Robin had never failed his liege; he had nearly died for Richard several times, including the case when Guy of Gisborne had tried regicide in Acre over a year ago.

He could have flung himself at his liege's feet, crying to him and begging him to spare his own life, but he didn't do that because he was too proud and only cared about his friends' lives at that moment. He only asked the King to take his life and release his friends, but the lion was adamant that everyone should have been punished. Robin told his friends that their death was not the King's fault as Richard had been deceived by the cunning Sheriff Vaisey of Nottingham. Yet, he admitted, only to himself, that he had lied to them, knowing Richard wasn't innocent; they were left to die in the desert at the King's order, and even Robin was unable to reject that.

Robin cherished the King's love and trust, paying back with immense, unconditional loyalty to his liege. But the King's trust was not absolute and complete. Yet, it was still unclear for Robin how his beloved and fair King could have sentenced all of them to death only because of hearsay.

The worst was that Robin had dragged others into the terrible mess. Marian wasn't supposed to travel in the Holy Land and die with them in the godforsaken lands. His friends were innocent and didn't deserve to die for nothing, all the more as traitors to the crown. He felt his cheeks burning with shame that he had let his friends and, most importantly, his beloved Marian down.

For the first time in his life, Robin felt utterly helpless and immensely miserable._ I am dying, and there is nothing that can save us now. Marian is dying now and with me, and because of me. My friends are dying because of me. I am dying for my King, but it is not their fight and they don't deserve to die here and now. And their deaths are my fault because they followed me and I failed them, Robin's heart said softly_.

At least he still had Marian near him, dying with her side by side, he told himself acerbically, but then dismissed his thoughts because it was too selfish to think so. She mustn't have been there, but she still was with him; guilt that he led his people to death was corroding his heart. _God thank you for my last minutes with my dear Marian, my only true love on Earth, Robin thought with a small smile quirking in the corners of his lips. I am happy that she forgave me for leaving her to fight in a pointless war so many years ago. I am happy to die with her._

The horrible pictures of the yellow sand, sodden with crimson and hot blood, whirled in his inflamed mind. _May God forgive me for my unholy deeds I committed in these lands! I killed so many people that I cannot count the numbers. My excellent skills with bow and sword are not blessing, but a curse. There is so much blood on my hands, and I will never wash it away. God absolve my sins, for I repent with all my heart that I came to the Holy Land and killed so many people, Robin prayed. I am dying here because I killed here. This is my punishment._

Robin had never hated King Richard, but presently he supposed that it was the first time when he truly loathed his liege. He had always known that Richard could have been ruthless and cruel, but he had never thought that the Lionheart could have been so foolish and so blinded by anger towards Robin, who had been utterly loyal and devoted to him.

_Their gruesome deaths were pointless. They were dying for England and for King Richard, but at the same time because of King Richard. Robin Hood's cause for England and King Richard was blown into nothingness_. Robin paid a very high price for his loyalty to the King and England – the lives of his friends, his wife, and his own life were given for nothing in the true sense. They achieved nothing because the Lionheart could have been already dead, which would lead to Prince John's victory.

"Forgive me, Marian," Robin whispered, his heart swelling with emotion.

Marian took a shallow breath, her heart lurching at the sound of his weak voice. "Handsome, it is not your fault. Don't blame yourself."

"Can you forgive me for leaving you, for not being unable to save you this time?"

"I forgave you a long time ago and I mean that," she assured.

Suddenly, his eyes were glistening with tears, and Robin didn't repress them. "Thank you, my darling." His shoulders slumped as exhaustion was overcoming him, his lean frame jerked.

Her eyes brilliant with rebellious tears which she was holding in check with all the restraint of which she was capable, Marian dropped her head. She couldn't hold back her tears; they began to fall silently. Her face was ashen, streaked with tears. "I love you, my husband," she murmured. She sighed and shut her eyes.

Robin heard her words, a weak smile tugging upon his lips. "I love you, my wife."

He shook his head, feeling strong wind blow loose sand and dirt from a dry surface; the sandstorm was brewing towards them. While he was in the Holy Land, he had always been scared of the sandstorms that filled everything around with terrors and cataclysms. The sandstorms could spring up without warning and bury towns, villages, and armies, and he didn't want to become its victim.

The sandstorm came and passed quickly, much quicker than Robin had anticipated, but it carried large amounts of dust, with the leading edge being composed of thick dust that rose high above the ground. As the sandstorm subsided, Robin sighed with relief. His mouth and nostrils were clogged, so dry that he was unable even to spit to clear them. His entire essence was completely overwhelmed with terror and dread. He again tried to move, but he was hampered by his bounds limbs. Everything was in vain; everything was for nothing; everything was lost.

Robin opened his eyes, raised his head, and looked at the sun in the sky, contemplating his surroundings for the last time. He felt how seething clouds of roiling smoke encompassed him, darkness claiming him and threatening to choke the life out of his body. Life was gradually leaving him, the thick white mist enveloping him, death cradling him in its arms.

§§§

The hot sun blazed down on King Richard and his men who rode through the desert to the place where Robin and the outlaws were tied up to the poles. Suspicious silence reigned around them, and only miles of the golden sands with rare palm trees dotted here and there stretched ahead.

King Richard held up a hand, his head cocked suddenly as though he had been listening. The King slowed down his stallion, his men trailing behind him. The Crusaders strained to hear what attracted the King's attention, but there was only the stillness of the desert.

Richard extended his hand and showed to the right. "I think I heard a quiet moan." He looked at the Earl of Leicester, one eyebrow rising higher than another. "I must be going in that direction."

Leicester turned his head and gazed into a distance. "I also heard a moan. We should hurry."

The King set out his horse into a gallop. Richard swept his eyes over the dunes and his heart missed a beat as he noticed two butchered bodies on the sand. The ubiquitous flies heaved and seethed on the men's wounds and on the pools of blackening, clotted blood that stained the sandy ground.

Richard shuddered as he recognized Carter and Rodger in the fallen soldiers. If they were killed, it meant that Robin and the outlaws weren't released. Much time passed since the King had spoken to Robin and left him to die in the desert. There was a probability that they were late and that everyone was dead. These thoughts caused Richard's heart to pound so ferociously that it almost chocked him to death.

The King stopped his horse and dismounted near the bodies. They were indeed Carter and Roger.

Richard crouched and bent his head down, his arms grabbing Carter's shoulders and slightly shaking him. "Carter! Carter!" he called, his voice thick with emotion.

Carter groaned and opened his eyes, his vision bleary and unfocused. "My liege… Alive…"

"I am unscratched."

"We were attacked and outnumbered," Carter mumbled hoarsely. "Robin… Robin…"

Richard didn't need to hear anything else to understand that his worst suspicions might have been true. He squeezed Carter's hand and bowed his head in a gesture of shock and frustration. Roger, another Crusader, was already dead, his body still warm. The King gave orders to take Carter and Roger's body back to the camp and have Carter tended by Richard's personal physician. Richard abruptly rose to his feet and dashed to the horses, screaming to the ten of his men to hurry. Leicester followed the King, while another group of the soldiers departed to the camp.

What they saw on the horizon made Richard's blood run cold. Robin and his friends were still tied up to the poles, the silhouettes of their corpses against the burning sun, their heads dropped to their chests, with no indication that they were alive. A wave of sickening feeling made the King dizzy, his heart hammering with nervousness. He breathed deeply to slow his pounding heart, but his chest swelled with fear even more. He prayed that they were merely unconscious, not dead, but the close they rode to them, the less hope he had.

"See that they are untied! Now! Now!" The King's voice was loud, quick, pressing.

The King needed to say nothing more on the matter. Everyone realized that every second was a part of a great, violent fighting with an invisible death – slumber, numbness, and death in the end. Leicester and other Crusaders rode ahead the King and climbed the small hill. As they reached the destination, they dismounted and rushed to the innocent traitors.

The men worked swiftly and operatively. The outlaws tumbled to the sand and were grabbed by the King's men, who shook them, attempting to awake them from the slumber. The King saw how Robin falling on the ground, unmoving and unresponsive to the hands that took him and shook him violently. The King also saw the dark-haired young lady dressed in a gorgeous white dress; she was untied from the same pole where Robin had been bound; Sir Daniel of Doncaster gently placed her on the sand, his expression gloomy and shocked. The King had no clue who the girl was and how she ended up with Robin in the desert.

Richard approached the Crusaders. "How are they?" He sounded extremely urgent.

"_The lady is dead. Her heart is not beating, and she is not breathing_," Sir Daniel answered sadly.

The King sighed heavily and blessed himself with the cross. The death of the woman was a bad omen, and his heart pounded harder. He stared at the Earl of Leicester and another Crusader, Sir Raymond, as they lowered the lion's unconscious favorite knight to a flat piece of ground as gently as they could; then they checked the pulse on Robin's neck.

"And Robin?" Richard inquired, fearing to hear the response.

"Robin… Robin… he is…" Leicester stammered, not able to vocalize what happened to his beloved and heroic friend.

"_The Earl of Huntington is not breathing_," Sir Raymond said shortly, his voice tense.

"_Robin is dead_," Leicester said, his voice hardly audible, but the others heard him. "_Our Robin is dead_." He bowed his head in respect to his tragically deceased friend and in shame for his King.

Richard lowered his head and crossed himself. His heart collapsed and stopped beating for an instance. He gasped for air. Robin, his Robin, was dead. The young woman was dead.

The air was deadly calm and sultry, suffocating the lion due to lack of oxygen and a tart feeling of monstrous guilt. He felt as though he had been swallowed by hell; the flames of hellfire went away, swallowed by darkness that was broken by a few thin trickles of light and then again substituted by darkness.

Richard slowly walked towards Robin, his gait unsteady. He stopped rooted near the body and ran his eyes over his body. He gasped for air again. The exposed skin of Robin's face and neck was badly burnt, his wrists were bruised from the bonds, and there was a slight tingle of blue on his dry lips. Richard had never seen the handsome, charming Robin of Locksley in such a miserable state, but even in death there was an aura of nobility and courage around the hero.

The lady in the white dress looked in a similar way. The King's eyes fixed at Marian's face, and he cringed as he saw at the sight of her skin terribly burnt by the sun. Yet, she still looked beautiful and captivating and peaceful. The King crossed himself again, asking God for forgiveness and cursing the same God that had taken the life of such young and beautiful woman in the desert.

The King ran his eyes across the line of the emotionless bodies. "What about the others?"

"I am sorry, my liege. They are dead," Sir Daniel reported, not looking at the King.

Richard shook his head, his mind beyond any coherent thought. His gaze swept over Robin's prone body, disbelievingly. "Oh my God," he managed to whisper.

Richard felt sickened with himself. He fought hard to prevent tears from spilling, but failed, and his blue eyes filled with tears that trickled down his cheeks, like silver rivers of pain. He drew a deep breath and swallowed his sobs. His eyes stung from hot tears.

"Oh my God, Robin. Forgive me, my friend," Richard mumbled to himself. "Forgive me if you can. God forgive me for what I did."

The ground trembled nervously under the King's feet. His heart was broken into many small pieces, heavily bleeding like a large open wound. He wished to run away to the farthest ends of the Earth, escaping shame and guilt for the tragedy. His beloved, loyal, strong Robin was dead. Everyone was dead. All the unjustly condemned people died because of him. Their deaths were unjust, pointless. It was his fault, only his fault. He would never forgive himself.

Moved by the solitary, great tragedy of all these deaths, King Richard walked noiselessly on the sand, passing the bodies of his victims and examining their corpses. All of them were severely burnt and looked as though they had spent not several hours, but the whole day under the sun.

Richard found himself searching for words to say over the bodies of the innocent traitors. The King didn't know the outlaws, but they were Robin's friends and it was enough to consider them reliable and loyal people because Robin had never betrayed his King and country. Then it came to him that anything he might say would be wasted. The outlaws were dead and they died as traitors, while they deserved a better fate than the end they had met in the Holy Land.

The King saw a dead young Saracen woman, who would normally have hated the Christians. Yet, she was with Robin and, apparently, came to save Richard's life. The untimely, undeserved deaths of the innocent people were a chasmal tragedy, the scale of which was immeasurable. What happened was beyond forgiveness he could grant himself, and he knew about that.

Richard bowed his head, looking down at the corpses. "Rest in peace, whoever you are. No God – Christ or Allah – would object to my wish of that for you. Forgive me if you can."

§§§

"Robin's manservant, Much, seems to be alive," Sir Daniel declared, his hand on Much's neck.

King Richard didn't need to hear something else. He ran to Much as fast as his legs carried him and stopped near the unmoving body. He crouched, looking at Robin's former manservant with eyes full of repentance and black grief. "Much…" he addressed to the younger man.

At first, Much didn't respond. He took a deep breath and slowly turned his head to face the man whom he served so loyally and who killed them. He blinked, temporarily sun blinded. He put his head on his forehead to shield himself from the sun. Then he finally opened his eyes and saw the King's golden head leaning over him.

"My liege," Much rasped. "Water…"

Richard nodded. "Give him water! Hurry up!"

Sir Daniel leaned down to Much's body. The King and Daniel helped Much to sit and put a flask of water to his lips. Much drank some water and lowered himself on the sand, too weak to sit.

Much licked his lips. "Robin? What is with Robin?"

Richard sighed. He remembered that Much had always been highly concerned with Robin's well-being and put his master's life above his own. The King had always been astonished that the servant could have cared so deeply for his master.

"Robin and the others..." the King trailed off before he spoke the truth.

Anticipating a private conversation, the Crusaders stepped aside.

Much stared at his liege in silence for a long moment. "What?"

Richard averted his eyes, his expression sullen, his jaw tightened, his fists clenched. His voice failed him; his mouth moved, but no words emerged until he swallowed and shook his head slowly. "They are... They are…" It was the first time when Richard stumbled with words as he spoke to his subject, all the more a mere servant.

Much could read the King's emotions splashed across his face. Everything was clear – the other outlaws were dead. "They are dead?" he forced himself to ask.

Richard inclined his head. "Yes." He turned to Much and saw that his eyes were half opened and waited for any reaction from him. As Much kept silent, the King spoke. "I am sorry."

Much shook his head. "Too late to apologize, milord."

"I know," Richard said grimly. "You will be nursed back to heath."

Much shook his head in protest. "No, no. I am damaged beyond repair," he groaned.

"Much, don't say that," the King countered.

"Too late, sire," Much said neutrally.

The King was silent for long moments, his mind still trying to digest what had happened. He couldn't believe that they came too late and that Robin and the others had already been dead. He inhaled deeply, and then nodded in agreement, lowering his chin to his chest. "The Sheriff is arrested and will be executed tomorrow. The man in the black leather, the Saracens, and Sir James of Kent were killed in the fight," he informed, not knowing what else he could say.

The King didn't tell the dying man about Carter's severe wounds and Roger's death.

"Good. At least we achieved something." Much smiled vaguely. He hoped that Robin and the outlaws watched them from Heaven and knew that their enemies had been dispatched.

"At least," Richard echoed.

Feeling that he was near his death, Much was going to tell the King some truths before God took him to Heaven. He felt betrayed by the King he had been so loyal to throughout so many years. He was both angry and hurt.

Much gazed right into the King's eyes. "Sire, Robin always loved you, and so did I. Robin was always utterly loyal to you. I also was loyal to you, sire, but I came to the Holy Land because of Robin – I was more loyal to Robin than to you. I would have always followed him. I would die for him. I would give my life to let him live if I could." He drew a deep, agonizing breath. "We came here to save your life. But loyalty has its price, and we paid a high price."

It was the first time in his life when Much was so bold and so disrespectful towards the King, addressing to the lion without necessary respect and subordination. But he didn't care; he just wanted to say what he truly thought. Robin, his beloved Robin, was dead. He would also be dead soon and would meet Robin and the others in Heaven. He would allow himself a luxury to be frank with the King who murdered them.

The King looked away, unable to hold the man's gaze. "Sheriff Vaisey deceived and tricked me. I would have never ordered to execute Robin if I hadn't been deceived." He knew that it was not a justification, but he could say nothing more.

"Robin truly loved you, his King and his friend." Much spoke in matter-of-fact tones, coldly and calmly. "I think Robin loved you almost as dearly as he loved his father. The thought of your death made his blood boil and he was ready to kill everyone who threatened your life and your throne. He admired you greatly. I think he worshipped you."

"Much, please don't say–"

Much interrupted the King. "Sire, I also admired you and loved you, because you are a great and brave warrior, but more because you loved Robin and he loved you. I always loved those whom Robin loved." He paused and sighed. "But all of love and admiration, all of loyalty and duty which Robin genuinely felt so privileged to give you willingly for so many years – everything turned to gray ashes; you destroyed everything. Robin died because of his unconditional loyalty to you. Even Lady Marian of Knighton, Robin's wife, died because of you, although she was never assumed to be in the Holy Land and was kidnapped by the Sheriff and Gisborne because she had tried to kill Vaisey in Nottingham in order to prevent him from travelling to Acre and murdering you."

"Enough," Richard half moaned, tilting his head. "Please enough."

Much wasn't going to stop; he needed a minute of frankness with the King who had murdered them. "You sentenced all of us to death because of hearsay. You believed all the wretched lies after Robin had nearly given his life to save you so many times on the Crusade. Robin and we all wanted to save our King and England and bring you home because Prince John rules in tyranny, not caring about English people and even about the nobles. Robin always wanted to save and protect you, our King, but ironically you took the life of your most devoted follower and savior in the very end." He croaked with laugher. "It would be funny if it weren't so sad. This is how you repay to us for our loyalty."

Richard turned his eyes directly on the dying man. "I am sorry." His voice was cracking. "I will never forgive myself for what I did today." He fell still, his face an embodiment of horrible pain and chasmal regret. "I loved Robin most of all among my knights. He was my friend." He trailed off and closed his eyes. "I will mourn for Robin till my dying day. I will mourn for all of you."

"Robin said that it was not your fault, that you were deceived," Much mumbled. "He was loyal to you even in death." He gave the King a fierce glare, anger overwhelming his heart. "He would have been always loyal to you if you hadn't killed him."

"I am so sorry," the King whispered after a short pause. He didn't reprimand the dying men for disrespect, for he knew his faults.

"Sire, send someone to Bassam's house in Acre."

The King raised his eyes. "The bird's man?"

"Yes."

"Why, Much?"

Much's face broke into a large smile. "This is the last gift from Robin Hood."

Richard was bewildered. "The gift from Robin?"

Much laughed humorously. "Yes. It is my fault that I forgot one thing at Bassam's house. Tell Bassam that you are from Robin and ask permission to go into Saffiya's room. Saffiya is a young Saracen who died with us. You will find the folded parchment on the table near the cage with birds. It is the Pact of Nottingham, which the Sheriff and the Black Knights signed several months ago. You will find the names of all the traitors there."

The King squeezed Much's hand in gratitude. "Thank you, Much."

Much grimaced. "Don't tell Bassam how we all died. Tell him that we died in the battle, saving England and the King. He won't understand, and you need to talk to him to have the Pact."

Richard felt his cheeks turning crimson. He was utterly ashamed. "Thank you," he repeated.

Much felt his strength fading away. There was only one thing that remained to be said. "Sire, I must tell you something very important. If Robin or Marian survived, I wouldn't have to do that, but now I must say that before I die." He cleared his throat. "Robin has a son with Marian. The boy's name is Robin."

Richard raised his eyebrows. "Robin never told me about that."

"Sire, Robin didn't know about the birth of his own son until he reconciled with Marian, more than a year after our return in England."

"Why didn't she tell him before?"

"Marian didn't know yet that she was with child when we left Nottingham and she broke their engagement," Much continued. "Later, when she learnt about her condition, she was too proud to inform Robin, although if she had been less stubborn and had notified him about the child, he would have returned and married her even against her will. Only recently Marian revealed the truth to Robin, and he was very happy with the news. They planned to live together with their son in Locksley, as a happy family, after your return to England."

"I see…"

"But now… now… Robin and Marian are dead." It took Much all his strength to talk because he was very weak. "Now their son is an orphan. Little Robin is alone in the world."

Richard cringed at Much's last words. The weight of guilt momentarily doubled; he couldn't breathe and could barely speak. He wanted to scream at himself and at everyone, to express his sorrow, anger, and guilt, but no words came out of his mouth.

"How can we find the boy? Is he in Nottingham?" the King said after a long pause.

Emotions unleashed in Much's heart, and he started sobbing. Tears were falling down his hollow cheeks. "Robin's son… he lives in Lanesborough, with Lady Julia of Lanesborough, Marian's cousin and friend, as well as with Lady Julia's husband. Only few people know the truth about the boy. Robin told me about that on the way to the Holy Land." He paused.

"Go on," the King prompted.

Much swallowed his sobs. "Robin said that his son took much after him in his appearance – his sandy hair and his bright blue eyes. Robin was proud of his son whom he met only several times in his life." He clutched the King's hand. "Sire, I beg you to take care of the boy. Please do that for Robin and Marian. I beseech you, milord, to give Robin's son his lands and title, which were so unjustly taken away from him after our return in England. I know that Marian and Robin were not married under the law when their son was conceived and born, but now they are married in the eyes of God because they exchanged wedding vows here, in the desert, while we were dying."

"Oh God." Richard's heart swelled with black sorrow, sharp pain filling every fibre of his body.

"My liege, I beg you not to hold his illegitimacy against the boy. Robin's son has a moral right to be Lord of Locksley, the next rightful Earl of Huntington."

"I swear that I will take care of Robin's son. I will protect him and Robin's legacy. I will transfer everything that Robin rightfully owned to this boy. I will also make the young Robin my ward, or my mother's ward," Richard murmured, squeezing Much's hand.

"Thank you, sire." Much stiffened. "Marian and Robin loved each other so much. They were meant to be together." His cheeks were wet with tears.

"Ask me whatever you want. I will everything do for you and in your memory."

"I love Robin the most in this life. He was like my brother. He was my best friend. I would be unable to live without him," Much whispered, his voice turning lower with every spoken word. "Bury Robin and Marian in the same tomb. Let them rest together in the sand; they deserve to have eternal rest together, side by side." He took a deep, whizzing breath and forced a smile. "And bury me next to Robin's grave. I want to find my peace near my master, near Robin."

"I will," the King pledged, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. Even he, the battle-hardened warrior, was deeply touched by the manservant's love for his former master and friend.

"Thank you," Much whispered.

Then Much drew his last shallow breath and closed his eyes forever. He was dead.

"I am so sorry. I am so sorry." Richard bowed his head in utter demise and shame.

§§§

The sun passed the noon hour, descended behind the sandy hills, and slipped to the horizon. Daylight faded into the dusk, the sunset sky turning brilliant golds, burnished browns, and orange.

The bodies of the killed traitors were delivered to the Crusader camp and flaunted in front of the King's Guards. Next morning, Sir Guy of Gisborne and Sir James of Kent were given Christian burials. They were buried not in the area for the King's guards, but in the desert in unmarked graves as high traitors. Very few people attended their funeral and nobody grieved for their deaths. Some Crusaders openly cursed them and spoke about them harshly, in the most unintelligible words. The Saracen assassins were laid to rest in the common unmarked grave, near Gisborne and James.

King Richard sent his messenger to Bassam's house in Acre. Bassam was shocked when the young Crusader informed him about Djaq's death in the battle. The messenger flinched at the lie he said to the old man as he knew how the young Saracen had exactly died. However, the King's orders were to bring the information about Djaq's heroic death in the fight, and the messenger himself didn't wish the old Saracen man to learn the truth to protect the King's reputation.

The messenger found the Pact of Nottingham in the same room and at the same place Much told the King about. He brought the precious parchment into the camp and handed it personally to King Richard. The King was surprised how many nobles had been bought by Prince John; he understood that he had certainly underestimated his brother's vile wickedness, manipulative mind, and tremendous cunningness when he left for the Crusade. He was determined to rectify the situation as soon as he got back to England.

Richard had to thank Robin for the document that proved the treason of the Black Knights and his own brother. Robin helped him even from grave, which made Richard's guilt more unbearable. The King finally realized that he had to finish the war and go back to England if he wanted to have a kingdom and the support of the Saxon and Norman nobles upon his return. He urgently had to make peace with Saladin and then depart to England.

Vaisey was unceremoniously thrown into the cold cell in the old, shabby building just outside the walls of Acre, which had been transformed into the prison after the capture of Acre by Richard's troops. The Sheriff was unconscious for several hours, and when he awoke, he had no doubt what had happened to him and what kind of fate lay ahead. Vaisey was officially declared a high traitor and became just a miserable prisoner, having complete understanding of what he had done and mired in no illusions about the seriousness with which his transgression was viewed.

Vaisey's interrogation was brief, simplified by the fact that he had been seen by the King himself at the place where the last assassination attempt on the King's life had been committed. The Sheriff knew that he was trapped, and the would-be regicide was confessed immediately, spitting out every detail of what could have occurred to the King, but giving no details about the Black Knights and all Prince John's plots to usurp the throne and steal power in Richard's absence.

When King Richard came to Vaisey, the Sheriff taunted the King that he had killed his most loyal servant Robin Hood, which enraged Richard beyond any measure. Knowing that John and Richard were sharply at odds with each other, Vaisey promised Richard that he would eventually be dead at the hands of the other Black Knights. Tired of the interrogation, Richard showed the Sheriff the Pact of Nottingham and told him that all the Black Knights would pay for treason with their lives. Vaisey had nothing to offer in response, cursing Robin Hood over and over again.

"Bla-di-bla-di-bla! I may be irredeemable, and, of course, everyone agrees with the great King Richard. And what about you, the mighty King? You killed Robin Hood, your favorite and your most entrusted subject, your close friend as well. You killed Hood's friends and proclaimed them traitors, even if you later declared them innocent," he taunted, his eyes glistening with wickedness.

"It is your fault, and you will pay for that," King Richard snapped angrily.

Vaisey scoffed. "I came here to kill you because I wanted power beyond measure. I am not a perfect man, but I never killed the people who supported me and served me well, unlike you, the lion. Can you, the mighty King, redeem and forgive yourself for what you did to Robin Hood? How do you feel after you betrayed and murdered your most loyal subject?"

"Shut up, you foul traitor!" Richard cried out in a ringing tone.

"If I shut up, it will change nothing," the Sheriff shot back. "Hood is dead. You killed him. How great! He was so young to die! I like that you, his King, caused his death!"

"Put him to the rack," the King ordered to his men, his tone harsh. "But don't torture him to death. I don't wish to deprive us of entertainment tomorrow."

The King of England chose the most extreme punishment for Vaisey: he was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. Richard assembled the men and made them all watch the end of the evil Sheriff who designed the plan of Robin's downfall, succeeded, and was doomed to die at the order of the very man whom he had planned to kill to please Prince John.

Vaisey was violated and cruelly beaten within the prison's confines. At the King's express wish, the Sheriff was put to the rack as they needed information about his allies in the Holy Land, but he said nothing and endured the torture. Vaisey had burns and broken ribs, and his entire body was a mass of bruising. His wrists and ankles had scars of chains and manacles.

Although Carter was delivered to the camp and his wounds were tended by the physician, he died in several hours from huge blood loss. The physician did everything he could, but the bleeding didn't stop, blood flowing out of Carter's body every minute. Like the others, Carter was doomed to die.

The outcome was disastrous; Robin and his lady were dead, the others also died in the desert, Carter was almost mortally wounded and Roger was dead. _The price of the King's mistake was too high. Robin's unconditional loyalty to the King and England had an extremely high price. Like a cruel betrayal and a hypocritical backstabbing, unconditional loyalty had its price._ The other side of loyalty was death not only on the battlefield, protecting the King and saving his life, but also a possible death at the King's hand, like it happened to Robin and his friends.

§§§

Next morning after his capture, Vaisey was collected from his cell by the guards who roughly gripped his body and dragged him to the place of his execution outside the King's camp. He tried to resist, but he was so weak that he barely was able to open his eyes and look at the guards. It was quite a long way to his final destination, and the Sheriff was really hurting from the wounds inflicted on him by his jailors. He wore rags and no longer looked like a powerful and sadistic Sheriff Vaisey, sneering at his victims and enjoying their screams of agony.

His head pounding and his mind in daze, Vaisey heard loud voices somewhere nearby. The closer they came to the gallows, the better he could see the outlines and shapes of people in the rows of seats along the gallows. As they stopped, Vaisey turned his head and looked around; he was met by a sea of hostile faces, scoffing at him and flashing hateful glances in his direction. It was the first time in his life when he was afraid of the gathering crowd, feeling that he only wished to construct a sound barrier that could shelter his ears and eyes from the screams and gazes of his enemies.

Vaisey shivered as he saw the gallows and two Crusaders with daggers in their arms. With more and more urgent frequency, he realized that it was his end, his mind still struggling to perceive the elements of what his execution would be like. He tortured for entertainment and killed many people in cold blood, but he had never suspected that he would end his existence on the gallows.

The former Sheriff was forced to his knees by two men who held his chained wrists and pressed down on his shoulders. Aware that he could not have resisted had he wished to, he could see only the legs of the people around him. He swore the oath in his mind, cursing King Richard and Robin Hood who even in death managed to defy him and save his King. There was a sudden scurry of movement around, and he heard someone's commands in French to surround the area. He guessed that King Richard himself was coming to watch the death of his would-be murderer.

Dressed in a royal purple velvet mantle above a white tunic, King Richard stood on the high platform, his eyes taking in the crowd of his men who came to witness Vaisey's execution.

"Today we gathered here to serve justice by executing the traitor to the crown – Lord Peter Vaisey, the former Sheriff of Nottingham," the King began in a high, almost booming voice. "This man is a traitor and a worm, the lowest scum on Earth. Men like him are responsible for the downfalls of kingdoms, the murders of royal and noble families, the most cunning plans of ruining trust and friendship, and the destruction of good and honest souls. It is only to God's providence and Robin of Locksley's interference that this traitor didn't kill your King. That said, I disallow him his knighthood and his peerage and condemn him to the most brutal death."

Richard was accurate in his speech, choosing right, subtle words, but everyone understood what he meant by accusing Vaisey of devising the most cunning plans that ruined trust and friendship with lethal consciences for the very man whom the King loved and who didn't deserve to die.

Richard turned his head away, demonstrating his disgust and disdain towards the traitor. Vaisey was pulled up by the guards and forced to look ahead where the King and his entourage stood.

The Earl of Leicester gazed down at the small man with grizzled hair, pure hatred for the Sheriff coursing through his veins. He raised his hand and pointed at Vaisey's chest. "This man is a high traitor and deserves the harshest punishment for his evil deeds," he proclaimed, feeling a lump in his throat at the thought what the man had caused to Robin. "This man is nothing and nobody for us. He will rot and burn in hell for everything he did in his pathetic life. His sins cannot be absolved."

"This man will obviously burn in the hellfire. His soul is irredeemable," the King said after a short pause. He turned his head and his eyes locked with Vaisey's. "Proceed to the execution."

The guards dragged Vaisey to the gallows, and he began struggling from their iron grip. He wished to have a final word in the battle with the King, and he knew very well how to hurt the lion. "I may die today, but my death won't make you happier, Richard the Lionheart. Robin Hood is dead! His friends and several Crusaders are also dead! You killed them!" he bellowed.

The guards were dangerously close to running out of patience with Vaisey's behavior. A young man slapped the prisoner hard across his face and kicked him into his stomach; the former Sheriff whimpered and lamented something unclear. Someone spat into Vaisey's face and cursed him aloud. The same guard shook Vaisey and slapped him again, making the prisoner roar with pain, his face screwed up in pain as the guards tried to silence him.

Richard understood the prisoner's words all too well. For a brief moment, his guilt was plain on his face that turned expressionless in an instance. He shuddered, hot anger boiling in his veins and suffocating him, anger with himself and with Vaisey and especially with Prince John whose plots killed so many people as they tried to save Richard and England. He knew that he had been guilty; he didn't need to be reminded how guilty he was.

"Execute this traitor! Execute him! I want him dead!" the King shouted at the top of his lungs. "Don't let him pass out between drawing and quartering. Let him feel and watch."

The guard roughly pressed a hand on Vaisey's mouth to stop his discrediting speech. The Sheriff was fastened to a wooden panel, drawn by horse to the gallows. Then he was pulled up, and the guards brought the noose over the prisoner's head and perfectly tightened it, so that there was no chance to slip free from it. The rope was coarse, its mere touch with skin a torture, and Vaisey cringed; his neck arched, and his body was strained as if he were again being pulled to a rack.

Vaisey knew that it was his last chance to look at the King and tell him what else he intended to say. He raised his head and smiled maliciously. "I may go to hell, but I am still winning because Robin of Locksley is dead, and it is you, his beloved King, who murdered him. There might be demons, waiting to suck me in hell, but you, King Richard, will be haunted by Robin Hood until your death!"

"Execute him!" Richard bawled out, his face as pale as death itself.

Vaisey laughed. "I have won, King Richard. And you will never forget Robin's death and the reasons of his untimely demise! Hood paid a high price for his loyalty to his precious King!"

Before Vaisey could say another word, the nod was given and a chair was removed from beneath his legs. The Sheriff suddenly felt the sand rolling underneath him as he found himself hanging in the air, kicking out with both legs as he tried to find support.

He was hanged almost to the point of death. As his body was cut down and tumbled to the ground, Vaisey was still barely alive and drew shallow breaths. The guards shook him and poured cold water on his face to sober him from the slumber. With effort, Vaisey half opened his eyes and saw the two men with knives in their arms. He screamed in horror as he was beyond terrified with the upcoming brutal fate. Then the prisoner's body was emasculated, disembowelled, beheaded and chopped into four pieces; the sand was deeply red with the treacherous blood.

The execution was accompanied by the uproar of numerous curses and loud, approving screams in English and Norman-French. Nobody pitied Vaisey and there was no mercy for him. He had to die the most brutal death for all the heinous crimes he had committed.

Richard watched every second of Vaisey's agony, but he thought not about Vaisey. His mind was with Robin as he remembered his first meeting with the hero in Poitou many years ago. His mind replayed the young slender man, the lithe archer with pale blue eyes and hair of sandy color that roguishly covered his forehead, handsome and charming and charismatic. He remembered all the times when he called the young Captain to his tent and talked to him about the war, home, life, women, and even about his own private life. He remembered Robin's bravery and foolhardiness on the battlefield, which saved Richard's life and the lives of many of his men. He silently begged Robin and the others to forgive him; he prayed God to grant him forgiveness.

When everything was over, the King ordered his men to have Sheriff's body dug up and set upon the main Gates of Acre. His head was impaled on a spike and left in front of the King's tent in the camp as a reminder of the unsuccessful regicide and the King's own betrayal of his loyal subjects.

§§§

After Vaisey's execution, Robin Hood and the outlaws were buried under red Crusader crosses in the area where only the honored members of the King's Private Guard were left for rest. As Much requested, Marian and Robin were buried in the same grave. The ever-loyal Much's grave was digged right near Robin and Marian's graves. The others were laid to rest nearby.

All the King's guards gathered to pay last respects to Robin Hood, or Robin of Locksley, the Earl of Huntington, the former Captain of the King's Private Guard, and the Hero of Acre, Jaffa, and Arsuf. King Richard officially announced that Robin and his friends had never been the traitors and that they had been deceived by the cunning Sheriff Peter Vaisey of Nottingham.

Richard officially pardoned and cleared the outlaws of all the charges and allegations laid against them in England. He proclaimed Robin Hood and the outlaws the heroes of England and the King's saviors because they were the ones who spoke about the plot on his life and in fact saved him. Carter and Roger, who were killed on their way to help the gang, were also honored as heroes.

King Richard was sullen and silent during the whole burial. He spoke a long speech in the honor of Robin and promised never to forget his most loyal subject and close friend, praying for his eternal peace and happiness in Heaven with the only woman he had ever loved with all his heart. He repented that he had been so foolish and that he hadn't believed Robin when he had first come to the camp in the morning. If he could take his decision back, he would have done that at any price, but it was impossible.

The King of England stood near Robin and Marian's grave, watching the burial. He knew that those tragic moments would remain in his memory forever.

Marian and Robin's bodies were wrapped into Richard's own red velvet mantles; the King gave his mantles to his beloved soldier and his lady as a sign of his love, grief, and repentance. Moreover, the King himself carried Robin's body to the grave, while the Earl of Leicester carried Marian's body. King Richard sent his men to Acre to bring beautiful baskets of fresh flowers for the funeral.

The King of England blamed himself and only himself. _It was my own stupidity that killed my dear Robin and all these men who came to save me, Richard thought, torn by the mingled feelings of grief, guilt, and disbelief_. Robin was his most loyal servant, his close friend, and one of his best generals. The deceased lady was Robin's wife in the eyes of God, and it strengthened the King's intolerable guilt. The dead people were Robin's friends. And he killed them all.

"_Robin, forgive me, my friend. It is my own arrogance, stupidity, ignorance, and vaunting pride that I led you, my ever-loyal Robin, to your untimely and tragic death. I beg you to forgive me if your gentle and kind soul may absolve my mortal sin. I condemn myself for my actions_," Richard mused, looking at Robin's grave. "May God forgive me for what I did to you, Robin, and your friends. If I could reverse time back, I would never sentence you to death. I failed you, my friend. I failed your friends. I took your lives while you deserved to live because England needed you, because I needed you." The King bowed his head in sorrow. "God help me atone for what I did."

Robin and Marian observed their own funeral from Heaven. It saddened them to see their bodies buried into the sands instead of Locksley, in the family tomb of Robin's parents, as Lord and Lady of Locksley. Nevertheless, their final resting place was near the graves of their friends, and it made their longing for the English soil less acute.

Marian looked at Robin. "How do you feel, handsome?"

Robin shot a bright, cheeky grin that had always charmed her. "My darling, I am happier here than on Earth. There is no war and no fighting here. Here we can truly be together."

"Really? You are happy that we died in the desert?" she blurted, her expression surprised.

"Yes, I am, my love." He laughed again. And she knew that he told her the truth.

A look of incredulity crossed her face. "Well, it is unexpected to hear that."

Robin looked into her sapphire blue eyes, his own pale blue eyes shimmering with imps of mirth. "Marian, I spent so many years without you at my side. I went to the war because I wanted to become a stronger man, worthy of your love. I chose glory over a family life with you, and then I realized what a great mistake I did and what a fool I was."

She smiled at him, sweetly but with a touch of teasing, a joyful sparkle in her eyes. "You told me about that in the cave where I lay after I had robbed Guy and he had stabbed me."

Robin shot her a withering look. "I will never forget that night, my love. It was the first time when I felt so close to you after our long separation." He heaved a sigh. "And then I thought that you were dead and my world died with you."

Marian laughed brightly. "How very clever of you to say this now when we are dead!"

Robin darted a doleful glance towards her. "On that day, I was lost because I could never see you again as long as I lived. I hated death then." He laughed. "But trust me, now I think that being dead is even better than alive."

"It is not too bad to be dead," she retorted with a little laugh.

"I survived in the Holy Land only because I dreamed of you, your beautiful, serene face; you guided me through the darkness to the light," Robin confessed. "I returned home to England with the only hope – to live in peace for the rest of my life and with you as my wife. However, everything went terribly wrong, and instead of peace I found another war. I am proud that we were fighting for justice, and I don't repent of that." His lips twitched ever so lightly. "The only thing that made me happy upon my arrival was your unmarried status and then the news about our son. I was the happiest man when I finally saw our golden boy."

"I was angry with you for leaving me. I didn't inform you that I was with child, and this is my fault," she said apologetically.

"You are forgiven, my love. I thought we have already discussed that."

She gave her a playful glance. "And you are forgiven for leaving me and going to the war."

He winked at her. "Thank you."

Marian looked at Richard and frowned. She still blamed Richard for their tragic demise. "Do you think the King will take care of our son like Much asked him to do?"

He nodded. "Marian, Richard is deeply shocked with what he did to us. I heard what he said near our grave, and I don't hate him. I may confess that I was furious and even hated him when we were dying in the desert, but later my anger subsided."

"Robin, I still don't understand why the King sentenced _you – his most loyal subject, his friend, and his savior _– to death. This is ridiculous."

Robin sighed. "Richard is an impulsive and temperamental man. The Sheriff invented a cunning and convincing tale for him. He heard that he would be betrayed by the person whom he trusted and loved, and he believed that I could be a foul traitor. He loved and loves me very much, and the thought that I could have betrayed him enraged and hurt him so much that he went beserk with rage and made a very wrong decision." A half-formed grin plucked at the corner of his mouth. "Believe me that Richard wholeheartedly repents of what he did to us, especially to me."

"The King definitely looks upset," she agreed, staring down at the distraught monarch.

Robin gave a nod. "It is true. Richard is grieved with our deaths. He feels very guilty, and he will do everything to honor my memory and protect our legacy. He will take care of our little Robin."

Her blue eyes twinkled, a slow, enchanting smile hovering over her lips. "Then we may be happy and be at peace here, watching our son from Heaven."

He smiled. "Yes."

Marian glanced at Robin searchingly. "Robin, do you still think that you are bound to Richard by unbreakable ties of gratitude and unconditional fealty?"

He laughed and pushing her hair back from her forehead, cupping her face in his hands. "Marian, I am happy that Richard is alive. I would never wish his death. I forgave Richard."

She donned her most sincere expression. "I forgave him too. After all, you are with me."

"And I will never leave you again."

Marian felt his strong arms wrapping around her slim waist. He pressed her to his chest and kissed the nape of her head. She raised her head and stared up at him – her husband, her eyes flashing with love and happiness that they were together. "I love you, Robin," she said tenderly.

Robin stared down at her, his eyes burning with unshed tears. His eyes were blue unfathomable pools, radiating happiness and placidity. "I love you, Marian," he murmured.

"Life showed us the true extent of our need for each other," Robin said softly, stroking her hair and smiling with a slow, shiver-inducing smile. "Life was too short for us to be together, my love. No matter how long I might have been with you, it would never be enough. Eventually, you and I are together forever, and nobody will take you from me."

"We have eternity to be together, handsome," Marian said, a content smile playing about her sensual lips, tears of happiness slipping down her cheeks. His arms tightened around her and she felt his throat work as he swallowed. "Need to be together is a violent thing in our case."

"I know," Robin said, his eyes twinkling with joy. "Forever together."

§§§

"Ah! The great Robin Hood is dead. His sweetheart is also dead," a familiar baritone spoke.

Robin and Marian swung around and stared at Guy of Gisborne, their faces revealing confusion. Guy was smiling, his steel blue eyes piercing them. Guy laughed as Robin's eyes grew impossibly wide in astonishment. Guy didn't change much in the afterlife, except that he didn't wear black leather and wore in a white doublet and white flat pants.

"Gisborne," Robin managed to say.

Marian blinked. "Guy!"

"I repented of my sins and God had mercy on my lost soul. My parents prayed for me and impetrated God to forgive me," Guy explained, his face a cameo of mystery, looking more than a little like a wizard conjuring a spirit. "Didn't expect me to be in Heaven after my death?"

Startled, Robin, each moment a lesson in bewilderment, glanced at his nemesis with confusion in his eyes. "Actually, I have never imagined that." He grinned. "I am pleased that you are no longer able to harm innocents. Who killed you?"

"King Richard stabbed me in my stomach in a fight," Guy responded.

Robin's eyes shone bright, imagining the picture and understanding the twist of fate that mocked them all. "Hey, Gisborne, this was truly a good day to die. It is symbolical that the very man whom you wanted to kill for so long personally killed you."

"And your precious King murdered you and your friends after everything good you had done for him. You paid an extreme price for your loyalty to this stupid man," Guy parried, with a mocking smile.

"And you, Gisborne, paid a high price for your misguided loyalty to Vaisey and Prince John," Robin shot back.

"Stop it. The price of our loyalty was death, whether we were misguided or not," Marian said in an allaying tone, laughing at the absurdity of the situation. "It seems that King Richard took everyone's life in the end, except my life as Vaisey was the one who brought me into the desert."

Guy clenched his fists. "Damn Vaisey. He will rot in hell!"

_The dark irony was that the fatal love triangle of Robin, Marian, and Guy had been finally untangled by the most important man in England – King Richard the Lionheart himself, whom Robin and Marian craved to protect and whom Guy wished to assassinate_.

Robin shrugged. "Vaisey deceived the King, and the Kings are always alarmed with respect to everything that may kill or harm them. It hurts very much if those whom they trust and love so much are suspected of treason. Ultimately, it is Vaisey's fault that we died, although I cannot say that the King is a sheer innocence." He grinned. "Anyway, Vaisey is dead. We saw his execution; he died a cruel, shameful, and painful death."

"We will never meet the Sheriff because he is already in hell," Marian interjected.

"Vaisey is undoubtedly in hell." Guy nodded, curving his lips into a smug smile. "He deserved that."

"Ha!" Robin thundered. "I didn't think that you can say that about your master."

"I have always hated Vaisey. I worked for him only to have power," Guy said truthfully.

Marian raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Was power worth that, Guy?"

"No," Guy answered firmly.

She smiled. "I am glad that you have realized that in the end."

"I feel that I am happier dead than alive. I am free now." Guy flashed a charming smile.

"I am glad that you finally see the difference between the good and the bad." Robin smiled, still perplexed and disbelieving. "Marian was right that you can be a better man."

Guy smiled and brushed a lock of his black hair from his forehead. "The goodness was buried in my heart many years ago, in my early youth. Now I regret that it took me so much time to realize the true values in the world, what is right and what is wrong. Nevertheless, I am relieved that my soul wasn't doomed to burn in hell forever."

"I am astounded," Robin confessed. "And I congratulate you with your realizations."

"Thank you, Hood," Guy retorted.

"Welcome, Gisborne," Robin replied.

Guy chuckled, looking at Robin's arm encircling Marian's waist. "Ah, I see that our lovebirds are together at peace." His eyes fixed at Marian's face. "I have always suspected that you still loved Locksley. I feared that I would lose you to him since he had returned from the Crusade. I feared that your affection might have been easily rekindled, but I pushed the thoughts about that aside."

Robin looked amused, cocked his head and glanced at Guy, his gaze intense, his expression impudent and proud. "You were right, Gisborne. We have always loved each other."

Guy laughed. "Hood, you are so full of yourself and so cocky, as always."

Marian shot Robin a discontented look. "Robin!"

"I am here, my love," Robin nearly sung, his arm tightening around her waist. He flashed a grin like a Cheshire cat. "And where will be the fun without that?"

"It is alright. I am accustomed to Locksley's cheeky grins, insolent jesting, and constant mocking," Guy conciliated, his voice calm and steady. "We are dead, and nothing will change that. Speaking of what we are feeling, it doesn't matter at this point who and why used and toyed with you when you were alive."

Marian blushed, at once feeling sick of guilt that she wasn't frank with Guy. "Guy, I am so sorry. I care for you, always, but not in the same way I care for Robin."

"So it wasn't all a lie?" Guy inquired with a gusty little sigh.

She shook her head. "No, it wasn't. I didn't lie that I cared for you. I saw goodness in you, and I wanted you to become a better man. I thought that you were misguided and needed to change your allies, breaking from the Sheriff's clutches and becoming your own man." She paused and stared at Robin, her gaze half apologetic as she prepared for a little testimony. "If everything hadn't turned terribly wrong before the Sheriff's spectacle with an imposter as the King and if I hadn't loved Robin so much, we could have been together, Guy. I admit that I could have grown to love you, but only under different circumstances."

She glared at Robin, expecting to see him furious and jealous as she said the truth; but Robin looked unexpectedly calm and content, contemplating the situation.

Guy was bewildered. "If I had started doing right things before you left me at the altar?"

Marian inclined her head in acknowledgement. "Yes."

Guy gave them a cool smirk. "Now it doesn't matter. We are at peace."

"We are at peace," Robin echoed. "No more lies and games. No more fighting and uncovering sophisticated plots. No more anxiety, hatred, and jealousy." A blithesome smile illuminated his handsome features. "I must say that it is the most amazing sensation I have ever had."

Marian smiled radiantly. "There are only peace, tranquility, and happiness here."

Guy observed them with a twinkle in his eyes, then laughed. "You are made from the same cloth. Two idealists and fighters who finally found their peace after so many fierce battles." He smiled kindly. "Now it is time to part our ways. Farewell, Robin Hood and the Nightwatchman."

Marian caught her breath and smiled. "Goodbye, Guy."

Robin smiled with a smile that reached his eyes. "Farewell, Gisborne." He felt strangely allayed that he had eventually reached a truce with Gisborne, even if it happened in afterlife.

Marian and Robin observed the Guy's retreating back; then they looked at the crowd of Crusaders who bowed their heads in grief and respect to the tragically deceased heroes.

Looking at Robin and Marian's lifeless bodies, King Richard squeezed his eyes shut as pain and guilt lanced through his heart. "_May the memory of Robin and his friends live forever. They are England's heroes. They will never be forgotten_," he declared, his voice edged with tight emotion.

"_Everlasting glory and eternal peace to Robin of Locksley, the honorable Earl of Huntington and the legendary Robin Hood!_ _Eternal glory to all these brave and good people who died for their King and for England_," the Earl of Leicester declared.

"_May the memory of them live forever_," the Crusaders said together.

"_Anima Quiescat in Christo__. __Ad perpetuam rei memoriam_," the priest said in Latin.

The Crusaders wore gloomy expressions, all of them watching the King's stony face and having the same thought – that their liege accused of treason and ordered the execution of the man he loved the most among his subjects. Everyone understood that in sober fact the King had betrayed Robin's loyalty to him, but, of course, nobody said a word about that. Nevertheless, it was an unusually remarkable lesson for everyone as it showed what Richard could have done to those who served him with perfect devotion and loved him.

King Richard continued staring at Marian and Robin's grave, his eyes vacant, his gaze dull. He felt immensely guilty of killing his most loyal soldier and his friends. What he did was unforgivable. He should have been more rational and realize that he hadn't had any true evidence against Robin, except the words of the Saladin's envoy whom he had never seen before. The heartache was morbid, tearing the lion's heart apart, his every sense heightened painfully. He knew that he would never forgive himself for his mistake. He would mourn for Robin and his friends forever.

Marian sucked in a soft breath as she saw raw pain in Richard's blue eyes. "I think King Richard is terribly hurting. I pity him. He will never forgive himself."

They stared at each other a long moment. His breath was coming as shallowly as hers.

"Yeah, I forgave King Richard," Robin said flatly, confidently. "I don't want to sound vengeful, for I still admire and respect Richard as my King, but I am glad that he is sick of guilt as it serves him well. I think he received a great lesson and will never make the same mistake again."

Marian's face remained impassive as she gave a barely perceivable shrug. "Who knows what the King will learn? Richard seems to be prone to drag himself into a mess and a trouble, becoming in an urgent need to be saved and in the end blaming himself for his mistakes and haste decisions."

"Let's leave to history and future generations to judge King Richard," Robin retorted, his voice patient and undisturbed. He winked at her. "We have more pleasant things on agenda."

Marian smiled at him, knowing what he wanted. She didn't answer, and he didn't want her to speak. He wanted all their time free of anything but her smile and laugh and something more. He reached for her and scooped her into his arms, every curve of her voluptuous body perfectly fitting to his body, her flesh warm and soft and tender as living water.

Robin kissed Marian in her lips, and she returned the kiss without fear or hesitation – with pure happiness and delight and hunger for more. They kept their eyes open as they kissed, each of them feeling. In Heaven, at last, they could truly open their hearts to another and enjoy their sheer happiness. They will hold each other forever; love will forever be in their hearts and in their arms.

And so the legend of Robin Hood, the most heroic and infamous outlaw in England, began. Robin Hood's spirit lived in each and every part of Sherwood Forest and in the people who embraced his ideas and were ready to fight for justice in England. Robin Hood lived in Robin and Marian's legacy – their son, the young Robin of Locksley, the Earl of Huntington and Lord of Locksley, who grew up under King Richard's protection as a ward of Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine and then became the best archer and a highly skilled swordsman, like his infamous father. Robin Hood never died and lived throughout centuries in ballads and legends about fellow outlaws known as his merry men and their heroic leader who wore Lincoln green clothes, robbed from the rich and gave to the poor.

* * *

_With all my heart, I hope that you liked this story. I know that it is tragic as everyone dies, but it might have happened in the Holy Land if Carter hadn't saved Robin and the outlaws._

_Was it heartbreaking? What it really tragic? I think it was to a great extent._

_Actually, this story has something in common with one of Lady Kate's stories, in which the outlaws die in the desert and the King Richard is killed by an assassin. Yet, here Richard survives and has to face the outcome of his own stupid and hasty actions, and this story is written largely from Richard's perspective. _

_I have always been interested what would happen if Robin died in the desert and King Richard survived. I have wondered for a long time what Richard could have felt and thought afterwards, after Robin's death at the order of his beloved King. The above prompted me to write this long story with the tragic plot, exploring the alternative path of Robin Hood, Marian, and the outlaws and assuming that they were not successful in the Holy Land in the end of season 2._

_I paid much attention to King Richard and his thoughts in the light of Robin's tragic death. The King was overwhelmed with guilt and sorrow, and it is quite obvious that he repented of killing Robin. Richard is a flawed character on the show, for he is shown as a stupid jerk who was ready to execute his beloved Robin, and I think that I described Richard's emotional turmoil quite close to the one he might have had if Robin had indeed died because of his stupidity._

_Robin and Marian are shipped together, but in Heaven. I hope Guy's fans are not going to kill me for that. If I hadn't planned to make the end of Robin, Marian, and the outlaws so tragic and so bittersweet, I would have written something about Marian being torn between Robin and Guy. Yet, I don't see any other alternative for Marian at the stage when they were tied up in the desert and were waiting for their deaths. And, of course, Marian undoubtedly loved Robin, although I don't think that they were a perfect match, but they were quite good for one another. _

_There is the heartbreaking and dramatic scene of the last conversation between dying Much and grieving King Richard. I wanted to give a tribute to Much's utter loyalty to Robin, not the King and England, as Much spoke to the King and told him everything he felt for his liege and thought of what had happened to them. Richard deserved to be openly accused of murdering Robin. I wanted someone to be brave and throw the accusation of killing Robin and the outlaws into the King's face, and I believed that Much was an ideal candidate for that. I think Much is a hero in this scene as he doesn't fear to say everything to the monarch. _

_The unexpected twist of Robin and Marian having a son – little Robin – was introduced to let Robin Hood's legacy outlive the hero after the undeserved deaths of Robin and Marian and give readers a kind of a sweetener after a great shock with the deaths of Robin and the outlaws._

_I gave Robin, Marian, and Guy a long-awaited chance to reach a truce and reconcile, even though in this story it took place in Heaven. I also didn't make Guy to be in hell in the afterlife because I actually feel sympathetic with his tormented and misunderstood soul. In my view, they needed a minute of frankness and honesty in the very end, even if they were dead at that time. Marian even says that she could have grown to love Guy if the circumstances had been different; maybe these words serve a consolation for Guy's fans if any of them reads this story._

_I hope that you noticed that Robin thought of his death in the Holy Land as a kind of punishment for his unholy deeds he had committed there on the Crusade. Robin realized, fully and clearly, that the Crusade was not a holy thing at all, and he repented of killing so many people at the pointless war, which is consistent with the philosophy of Robin Hood we saw on the show. Robin also realized that his loyalty to King Richard killed him and his friends; he had a kind of disillusionment with his precious King in the final moments of his life. Guy also had a chance to realize his mistakes before his death; he symbolically looked at the sky above him and thought that he had been misguided during his entire life. _

_I struggled hard to find a good title for this story, and then a thought of loyalty popped into my head. Robin died because of his loyalty to the King who wasn't worth that at all, if we assume that Richard was really such an ungrateful and foolish King as he was shown on the show. Guy died because of his loyalty to a wrong man – Vaisey – and to bad purposes. Loyalty can be rewarded, but it can also result in death at the order of the King of England to whom you are so loyal in Robin's case and at the hand of the same King whom you want to kill in Guy's case, which makes the plot simultaneously tragic, ironic, and amusing. As you see, this story is about the price of loyalty._

_Thank you for reading his story. I would be very grateful for reviews._


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